The Higher Education Academy Annual Conference July 2006 Session papers

The Art of Teaching: A model for the lecture in the

21st century
Ruth Pickford, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK and Heather Clothier, Sheffield
Hallam University, UK.
Abstract
he primary role of the lecture today is not to disseminate content. !n order to
add value to the student e"perience it must# address areas of $eakness,
e"ploit live performance to elucidate, or inspire students %or ideally all of
these&'
he () model of lecture desi*n and delivery is adopta+le across disciplines, levels
of study and class si,es and may provide a solution to many of the challen*es
posed +y lar*e cohorts, $idenin* participation and lack of student en*a*ement.
he principal characteristic of the () model is the inte*ration of the four elements
of feed+ack, fi"ation, formative assessment and fun %(e(i(o(un' $ithin the lecture.
!deally the lecture +ecomes an event, a piece of theatre, that en*a*es students on
+oth conscious and su+conscious levels.
his paper, $hich follo$s up a session from the -..) national conference,
discusses a modern approach to the art of teachin* in the -/
st
century.
Introduction and context
here have +een many initiatives over the last decade to address perceived
$eaknesses $ith traditional lecture delivery. he use of ,apper systems to support
student0tutor interaction and multi media to increase student interest in lectures,
are increasin*. his paper descri+es a model and holistic approach to desi*nin*
lectures $hich is technolo*y independent +ut $hich complements modern advances
in the lecture theatre and +eyond.
his paper is not advocatin* the lar*e lecture as a solution to all the challen*es
posed +y $idenin* participation and lar*e under*raduate cohorts. Ho$ever, $here
the lecture theatre is to +e retained as a resource the (
)
model addresses many of
the shortcomin*s of the traditional lecture. 1t the heart of the model is the
e"ploitation of the lecture, not primarily as a medium of dissemination, +ut of
inspiration and motivation. !ts aim is to support a diverse student population in
student2centred learnin* throu*h dialo*ue and en*a*ement of +oth co*nitive and
affective domains.
Rational for the F4 model
Characteristics of quality teaching
Murray 3/4 points to research evidence that identifies 5 6ualities of *ood teachin*#
enthusiasm and e"pressiveness, clarity of e"planation, and rapport and interaction.
7hilst these characteristics may, of course, +e attri+uta+le to the personality of
individual lecturers it is sensi+le to focus on these as *oals in the desi*n of a
lecture. 8nthusiastic elucidation and interaction is more important than
dissemination of lar*e 6uantities of information.
Acti!e learning
The Higher Education Academy Annual Conference July 2006 Session papers
1lan Rod*ers 3-4 su**ests that 9the more active the student2learners are, the
more effective is the learnin* process: and that research indicates that the most
effective learnin* methods are student2centred activities 9especially those in $hich
the student participant en*a*es $ith the teacher and0or the material directly:. !f
the lecture is desi*ned to +e an active en*a*ement +et$een student, key material
and teacher, $here pace and direction are influenced +y the student then $e,
potentially, have a useful learnin* environment.
"i!ersity
;iven the ran*e of learnin* styles and cultures represented in many lecture
theatres the traditional lecture format may fail to meet the needs of many
students. Research from the <etherlands supports the +elief that students react in
different $ays to the same learnin* environment and that differences in varia+ility
of deep and surface learnin* could +e partially related to differences in the
perceptions of the learnin* environment 354. !n particular, international students
and students $ith disa+ilities may stru**le. Students $hose first lan*ua*e is not
the same as that used in delivery of the lecture may have pro+lems $ith oral
delivery and research at Leeds Met University su**ests that some students $ith
dysle"ia may =have difficulty in processin* se6uential sym+olic information= 3)4.
!n such a diverse student population it is difficult to identify commonality %other
than perhaps the culture characterised +y the u+i6uitous Microsoft 7indo$s&'.
;iven this increasin* diversity of the student population and the risin* e"pectations
of students practiced in processin* multiple messa*es and multiple media
simultaneously it can +e ar*ued that it is +eneficial to desi*n a lecture theatre
>interface? that e"ploits the $hole ran*e of channels availa+le.
The F
4
#FeFiFoFun$ %odel
he (
)
model for lecture desi*n and delivery is +ased on a +elief that#
!n order to teach students effectively it is important to discover $hat they kno$
and $hat they don?t kno$ %Feedbac&' 2 (e.
1 priority is to identify and elucidate key points %Fixation' 2 (i.
Summative assessment can +e a valua+le resource for en*a*in* students
%Formati!e'summati!e assessment' 2 (o.
Students are more likely to attend a lecture if they $ant to +e there %Fun'.
Formati!e'(ummati!e Assessment and Feedbac&
he Colourcard feed+ack system 3@4 inte*rates fre6uent, formative assessment,
$ithout the +urden of markin*, into the lecture. !t re6uires each lecture to +e
structured around a series of milestone multiple2choice 6uestions. Milestones are
identified at the lecture desi*n sta*e as those critical points at $hich student
understandin* needs to +e ascertained. he 6uestion is displayed at the front of
the lecture theatre $ith colour coded options and each student holds up a card
$hich corresponds to the colour of the selected option. Ay usin* carefully desi*ned
6uestions, the lecturer is a+le to identify pro+lems in student learnin* and to
address these pro+lems immediately +efore proceedin* to the ne"t milestone.
Participation in student to lecturer interaction is encoura*ed +y the direct
relationship +et$een the content, format and process of the lecture interaction and
that of an end of module summative assessment. his summative assessment
element is, therefore, desi*ned to +e formative in shapin* student +ehaviour $ithin
the lecture %formative2summative assessment'.
The Higher Education Academy Annual Conference July 2006 Session papers
Fun
1ccordin* to adult learnin* theory 9learnin* can +e most effective if one?s emotions
are en*a*ed in the learnin* process: 3B and C4. !t follo$s then that a lecture may
+e a more holistic learnin* e"perience if students invest on an emotional level.
;iven that students associatin* positive emotional e"perience $ith a lecture
pro*ramme are perhaps more likely to attend than those e"periencin* ne*ative
emotions it is sensi+le to strive to incorporate mainly enDoya+le elements into the
lecture.
!f $e are aimin* to mana*e the emotions of learners then music is an e"cellent
tool. !t is possi+le to measure emotional response to music $ith a heart2rate
monitor, 9$e actually physically feel these feelin*s and that *oes +eyond $ords=
3E4 and there is some evidence of a link +et$een music and co*nition =Music can
lift our mood, and certain kinds of music can temporarily +oost specific kinds of
intelli*ence= 3F4.
1nother po$erful tool is the story. Gan Ste$art 3/.4 su**ests that $hen a person is
listenin* to a story +oth sides of the +rain are $orkin*. =1 *ood story uses =visual,
auditory, kinesthetic and olfactory $ords to *ive the story depth and stimulate the
ri*ht +rain to enrich the meanin* of the story and store it in the memory for easy
recall=. Garvis, Hyson and Aurchell 3//4 refer to the =6uality of the silence= durin*
storytellin* and descri+e ho$ students report a feelin* of rela"ation =you *et a
sense of achievement, you a+sor+ it, you understand it and you could retell it=.
Ither resources $hich have +een used to evoke feelin*s, support permanence and
to tri**er post lecture recall of critical material include drama, dance, poetry,
careful use of humour, *ames and 6ui,,es. !deally the lecturer should select a
toolkit of resources for each lecture that they are comforta+le usin* and from
$hich they choose those that are +est suited to student need at the milestone
points.
Fixation and the FeFiFoFun %odel
Mentok$ski 3C4 states that 9Learnin* that endures is transformative:. here is little
point of a lecture that is for*otten. Iur *oal in a lecture is to e"plore a concept
throu*h student2tutor dialo*ue and feed+ack and to associate this concept $ith
+oth co*nitive and affective tri**ers that can aid recall for su+se6uent use.
(i"ation refers to the internalisation of a concept in +oth the co*nitive and affective
domains.
lecturer to student Feedback
student to lecturer Feedback
student participation
(Intrinsic motivation)
student participation
(Extrinsic motivation)
Feedback.
Fun.
Formative-Summative
assessment
Basis of learning
Closing te !ap
FIXATION FIXATION . .
F
"
Integration
Figure 1: The F
4
model
The Higher Education Academy Annual Conference July 2006 Session papers
he principal characteristic of the (
)
lecture is the inte*ration of the four elements
of feed+ack, fi"ation, formative2summative assessment and fun $ithin the lecture.
Student understandin* of critical material %fixation' is checked at milestone points
$ithin the lecture. Student participation in this lecture dialo*ue is supported +y
desire %fun' and perceived necessity %formati!e'summati!e assessment'.
Lecturer feedbac& is immediate and the su+se6uent lecture pace and direction is
determined +y the student response. his immediate feed+ack in turn supports
fixation, as does the use of a ran*e of fun elements.
he success of the model derives firstly from the constructive ali*nment of a
summative assessment element $ith the re6uired lecture participation. Ho$ever,
the principle of constructive ali*nment is less valid $hen intrinsic student
motivation dominates that of passin* assi*nments 3/-4 and the real value of the
model lies in the parallel Du"taposition of constructive ali*nment $ith the use of
complementary affective elements to support deep understandin* or fi"ation.
"esigning an F
4
)ecture
he process of desi*nin* an (
)
Lecture is a B step process. he desi*n 6uestions
are#
/. 7hat is the key point of this lectureJ
-. 7hat are the milestones in students understandin* this key pointJ
5. 7hat type of feed+ack mechanism is to +e used at the milestones to check
student understandin*J
). 7hich aspect of the summative assessment mirrors this feed+ack
mechanismJ
@. 7hat are the milestone 6uestionsJ
B. 7hich resources $ill +e used to emphasise and e"plore the key pointJ
he () model has +een used successfully over a num+er of years in teachin* lar*e
cohorts of first and second year students on information systems related courses at
Leeds Metropolitan University and Sheffield Hallam University. 1lthou*h a minority
of students indicated throu*h feed+ack that they had not perceived the +enefits of
the model the vast maDority of feed+ack $as positive and attendance at the ()
lectures $as hi*h.
Recommendations
!t is imperative not to lose si*ht of $hat you are tryin* to achieve in the lecture.
Student en*a*ement $ith the lecture is the critical success factor. he plannin*
and desi*n of the lecture and the selection of resources is important. If more
importance, ho$ever, is the lecturerKs fle"i+ility at milestone points to react
immediately to student need and not to stick to a pre determined script. he ()
approach $orks +est if the rationale is e"plained to students. he techni6ues need
to +e used $ith care. (or e"ample it $as o+served that if students considered a
milestone 6uestion to +e trivial their participation in Colourcard +ecome inhi+ited.
7hilst it is of course possi+le to easily incorporate only a su+set of the elements of
the (
)
approach into the lecture %many of our collea*ues, for e"ample, routinely
use music or coloured cards' $ith +enefit, fi"ation of key concepts is +est achieved
throu*h adoption of the full model as descri+ed in this paper.
his paper is a development of a draft ori*inally $ritten for he Leeds Metropolitan
University 1ssessment, Learnin* and eachin* !ncu+ator Gournal, -..B.
The Higher Education Academy Annual Conference July 2006 Session papers
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The Higher Education Academy Annual Conference July 2006 Session papers